JetNetting ™ With Heshie Segal

ARE YOU MEMORABLE?

...memorable enough to attract relationships and increase business? (Part One)

Relationships can have the quality comparable to love at first site. There is an attraction, a connection. You may not be sure what it is and yet...you know something is there. A relationship can begin with someone simply being memorable and you being attracted to that particular quality.

So, if it can be that easy, let’s see what it takes.

CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES and COLOR: This is the easiest because it is visible.

If you want to fit in and not be noticed, wear what everyone else in the crowd is wearing. It’s safe. However, that won’t make you memorable. You will need to wear something from slightly different to being outrageously different. Positive or negative, outrageous will do it. Can you imagine a man wearing a royal blue suit in the financial district when everyone else is wearing navy or black pinstripe? Or in the same scenario, a woman wearing a hot pink print dress? You may not want to do this everyday, yet if you did it even once, my guess is you would certainly be memorable. Some people would be aghast . . . and would say so (perhaps not to your face). Others might quietly wish they had the nerve. Try it and ask for an honest reaction. You may be surprised by the answers. In any case, you will not be forgotten.

So, while on the subject of color, you could choose a color and make it your trademark. Wear it everywhere. My friend Kirsten wears orange. It is her trademark to which she matches everything, her logo, her clothing, her accessories, etc. Do you have a color you like enough to use as your trademark? If you do, it will make you memorable. People will expect it when you appear on the scene.

How about, instead of color, a trademark piece of clothing or accessory? My friends T and Sam both wear hats. Michael wears a lavender sneaker on his left foot and a red one on his right (he tells people this helps him with direction), John wears a vest when speaking, another John wears red socks when speaking, Mark wears bold, colorful ties. All of them are known for their trademark clothing. If it seems strange, remember it works toward their success.

I personally make a statement with my choice of earrings. When I am speaking in front of an audience, the earrings are more subdued, usually gold and "still". I don’t want to draw attention to an accessory when I my words should carry the importance of the message. Yet, when I am off stage, I look for and wear wild earrings, often asymmetrical or with movable parts that cause people to take note.

I cannot resist an aside here. I was once out to dinner with a date and his parents. I was wearing asymmetrical earrings. He warned me his dad, quite on in years, would think I was really weird because of my earrings. We sat at the dinner table for over an hour with his dad staring at my earrings almost the entire time. Finally, when he could not hold it back any longer, he blurted, "Heshie, do you know that your earrings do not match?" I laughed, and said, "Yes, I wanted to see if you could accept me for who I am even with my weird sense of earring attire". He was so relieved by the answer, he not only accepted me, but from then on, he always waited to see what kind of earrings I would wear. I never disappointed him and it actually became a bond between us.

Another short earring story – I occasionally wear earrings with clock faces on them. People will stop me to ask the time. It is so much fun.

How about this one….in my opinion really the best - and I challenge you to find something so compelling you will cause the same reaction. I wear eyeglass holders that are so unusual people will cross a room to talk to me. "Did you make them? Where did you get them? I would like to get a pair". They are that fabulous – and you must seek this reaction all the time because it gives even the quietest person a reason to approach you, to smile, to start a conversation, to ask questions. And my best answer, which makes people feel wonderful because it is true ... is, "I wear these so special people, like you, will approach me and ask questions and very often it is the beginning of a new relationship." Many times I add, "Let’s keep in touch. There is a reason we met".

It is so simple...the clothes, the accessories we wear, the colors that emphasize them...they can make us memorable or have us melt into the background of conformity. It’s your choice! And, by the way, while this particular column may seem more geared to women than men, these comments are universal. The key is to choose a style, something that sets you apart and makes you memorable.

Whatever you do, it needs to be done with taste and a sense of good judgment.

In the next column, I will cover making memorable impressions in many other ways...your attitude, body language, the things you do, who you are seen to be as an individual and more.

Contact Heshie at HeshieS@TheNationalNetworker.com or via TNNW Blog.
 

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